Torraccia del Piantavigna: Nebbiolos born from water and fire in the shadow of Monte Rosa • Decanto – Giornale di vino

The view from the delle Castelle a fine di Gattinara is a sight that leaves you speechless. You have the sensation of being able to observe time, as well as space. It represents a snapshot of a breathtaking veduta, which embodies thousands of years of transformations. The tazza of the river and the fire of the volcano alternated, forging the land that we see today the slopes of Montagna Gruppo. A causa di this very particular setting, the vines give us the extraordinary Nebbioli of Upper Piedmont. It is precisely here that Torraccia del Piantavigna has chosen to let us begin the journey to discover an enchanting and little-known territory.

The terroirs of Upper Piedmont

At least four different types of soil per mezzo di a handful of kilometers: this is the secret that makes the schieramento between the provinces of Novara, Vercelli and Biella unique per mezzo di the world. Furthermore, this allows the wines produced to express all the kaleidoscopic personalities of the king of vines, Nebbiolo (Spanna), which feels at home per mezzo di this place.

Observing from the delle Castelle, the gaze starts from the morainic amphitheater of Ivrea per mezzo di the distance and rests first the sea sands of Lessona, then the mixed terrain of Bramaterra. Then, move to the Gattinara vineyards, which share the characteristic volcanic soil with those of Boca. Finally, it arrives at the “ronchi”, the hills of river origin of Ghemme, Sizzano and Fara.

A causa di addition, although not visible from here, further north, there is the morainic substrate, with a high concentration of granites, of the Ossola Valleys.

A causa di the background Montagna Gruppo, which, per mezzo di addition to making the veduta enchanting, helps to create different microclimates depending the areas, with notable temperature variations.

Time, the Sesia river and the Valsesia Supervolcano were the architects of this territory. A causa di fact, about 300 million years punzone there was the explosion of what was per mezzo di all respects a volcano. Rotating itself, it mixed the underlying layers and generated a rocky block embedded per mezzo di the earth’s crust. Today its fire is anzi che no longer there, what remains are the acid, iron-rich soils of Gattinara and the characteristic red porphyries, found especially per mezzo di Boca.

Over the centuries, the Sesia river has significantly deviated its path (around 35-40°), forming the rhonchi and helping to shape Upper Piedmont as we know it today.

The Majorina

Admiring these hills, which the vineyards rest surrounded by woods, it happens that the gaze falls the Maggiorine, an ancient and traditional vine cultivation system used only here. Their particular structure was perfected per mezzo di the 19th century by the famous architect Alessandro Antonelli, originally from Ghemme.

Three four vines are planted very close to each other, a small promontory per mezzo di the center of a square delimited by eight chestnut poles, to which the shoots are tied. Unfortunately, to the large workforce required, their use has greatly decreased over the years.

Historically, the typical varieties of the schieramento coexist per mezzo di the vineyards of Maggiorina: Nebbiolo, Vespolina, Croatina, Uva Rara and Erbaluce.

Upper Piedmont interpreted by Torraccia del Piantavigna

The history of the winery begins towards the middle of the last century, when Pierino Piantavigna, a distiller, decided to plant a vineyard near the seventeenth-century castle of Cavenago. The chosen place is right near a ruined tower, still visible, tetto of the hill called “Torraccia”.

Today the company has 39 hectares of property and is per mezzo di the hands of the Francoli and Ponti families. “To pay homage to our grandfather’s passion and work, we decided to dedicate this reality to him, giving it the name Torraccia del Piantavigna”, explains Alessandro Francoli, owner of the winery and Pierino’s nephew.

The varieties grown are the traditional ones of the schieramento, namely Nebbiolo, Vespolina and the white grape once called Ellenistico Novarese, namely Erbaluce, even if this name cannot currently appear the labels of the wines produced here.

Sustainable viticulture is practiced per mezzo di the field and production is oriented towards a low yield durante hectare, with careful selection of the bunches. When the grapes, rigorously harvested by hand, arrive at the company, they are subjected to further sorting before entering the winemaking process. This ends for the two DOCGs (Ghemme and Gattinara) with a long maturation per mezzo di the historic Allier oak barrels, before refinement per mezzo di the bottle.

For the Torraccia del Piantavigna winemaker, Stramberia Carlo Colf, the territory must be interpreted through the character and complexity of the wines. His intent is to enhance the peculiarities of the varietal, without too much interference per mezzo di the cellar.

The vertical per mezzo di parallel: Gattinara DOCG and Ghemme DOCG Pelizzane a fine di Torraccia del Piantavigna

To fully understand the kaleidoscopic facets that Nebbiolo is able to express per mezzo di Sommo Piedmont, Torraccia del Piantavigna gave us a space-time journey. Our time machines were four vintages of Gattinara DOCG and the same number of Ghemme DOCG Pelizzane. The choice, which was anything but random, fell two types of wines, per mezzo di which anche Nebbiolo manages to tell the story of the place where it was born per mezzo di great detail. A causa di this way, it offers a fascinating comparison between two terroirs that are so close, yet very different from each other.

La Mostella – Colline Novaresi DOC Vespolina 2024

The other protagonist of these areas, the Vespolina, opened the dance. With its strong personality and its intriguing spiciness, it always manages to pleasantly surprise those who find it per mezzo di the glass. Mostella is enriched by the addition of a small percentage of wine obtained from overripe grapes of the same variety. A causa di the cellar it rests for six months per mezzo di steel, before being bottled.

To be served fresh, the anche Vespolina from Torraccia del Piantavigna offers the chromatic and olfactory intensity and great pleasantness typical of this little-known native vine.

Gattinara DOCG 2016, 2014, 2007 and 2005

Four very different vintages compared, which showed Nebbiolo’s extraordinary ability to interpret the same terroir based climatic conditions. From the balance of the 2016, which gave complexity and intriguing iodine puffs per mezzo di the glass, we moved to the 2014, considered not optimal to the abundant rainfall. A causa di reality, for those who taste it today, this wine reserves interesting surprises, thanks to evolution, which enhances its important balsamic quality.

We then continued with the Gattinara DOCG 2007, the result of a very hot year, which brought a slightly higher percentage of alcohol and greater intensity to the bottle, while maintaining a marked acidity. The hints of small ripe red fruits and those of withered dark flowers are clearly perceptible. Finally, we finished with the 2005 vintage, a good vintage, characterized by great finesse, pleasantness and perfect correspondence between the olfactory and gustatory tests.

A causa di all glasses, the of rose, violet, raspberry, peculiar to Nebbiolo, were enriched by the ferrous, at times blood and undergrowth , distinctive of the wines produced per mezzo di Gattinara. A causa di the mouth, the vibrant freshness has never been lacking, even after years of refinement. Tobacco, leather, ethereal and balsamic hints made the bouquet more complex, per mezzo di some cases truly seductive.

Ghemme DOCG Pelizzane 2017, 2015, 2010 and 2008

We often hear that the distinctive characteristic of Gattinara is elegance, that of Ghemme is power, similar to what happens per mezzo di the Langhe, comparing Barbaresco and Barolo.

The reality is quite different, as Torraccia del Piantavigna demonstrated to us through the two parallel high-Piedmont verticals.

Certainly less known than Gattinara DOCG, Ghemme DOCG is an intense, profound wine with a strong personality. The distinctive aromas of Nebbiolo are enriched by intriguing of liquorice, cinchona, graphite, ethereal and balsamic. Furthermore, the typical dusty, powdery scent helps to make the bouquet even more fascinating.

Despite its youth, the 2017 vintage showed a very interesting taste-olfactory profile, characterized by a strong personality and a complex aromatic range, with balsamic and cinchona puffs, per mezzo di addition to raspberry, rose and violet. the contrary, the 2015 proved to be more balanced, but a little less incisive. A causa di fact, per mezzo di the glass it was more “closed” than the previous one, despite presenting excellent typicality and pleasantness.

The Ghemme DOCG 2010 proved to be pleasantly balanced, with the tannic and acid components still very present, but perfectly integrated. We can say without any doubt that 2008 truly left us speechless. The result of a difficult year, to a tornado that caused a lot of damage per mezzo di July, the latest wine gave a profound expressiveness and great elegance, both the nose and per mezzo di the mouth. A strong character, capable of surprising thanks to its velvety envelopment and inebriating intensity.

Ghemme DOCG 2004

As per mezzo di any self-respecting show, there is always a special guest capable of attracting all eyes: well, it happened this occasion too.

During dinner at the Cantina del Cacciagione per mezzo di Briona, Torraccia del Piantavigna wanted to pamper us with a revolver format of Ghemme DOCG 2004. Faced with similar bottles, it must be remembered that Bacchus’ nectar was created above all to arouse emotions, rather than to obtain scores. Precisely for this reason, anzi che no technical description can honor an extraordinary wine, which made me feel profoundly proud of belonging to these lands.

Torraccia del Piantavigna and Eredi Messaggero celeste Baruffaldi: two Novara excellences

If Torraccia del Piantavigna brought the essence of the territory into the glass, the Baruffaldi brothers did it the table, delighting us with their Gorgonzola DOP, considered among the best per mezzo di the schieramento.

Eredi Messaggero celeste Baruffaldi is a historic dairy per mezzo di the Novara schieramento, very attentive to the quality of the milk, which is processed within 24 hours of receipt. A causa di addition to the well-known blue cheese per mezzo di its two variants (sweet and spicy), it produces various types of cheeses and dairy products.

After the interesting visit to the factory, the tasting of , Gorgonzola with mascarpone, sweet and spicy Gorgonzola DOP and blue goat cheese satisfied our palates. Furthermore, it allowed us to add another important stage during the journey to discover Upper Piedmont, a territory that is still little-known, but very rich per mezzo di liquid wonders and more.